Very interesting. What is even more interesting, however, is what is in the regular edition that is not in the Professional Edition, thereby requiring a collector to own both?

Something in the press release about the new Professional Edition of the Red Book concerned me. According to Whitman Publisher Dennis Tucker,

"The Professional Edition is a companion to the regular-edition Red Book, not a replacement. Each book contains information that the other doesn't, and each will be published annually."

Does that mean we're going to have to buy TWO different Red Books in order to have all the information contained in the Red Book? I was under the impression that the Professional Edition would basically be a more specialized edition of the Red Book, but I don't see how publishing an advanced Red Book that doesn't include ALL of the information contained in the traditional version is going to be helpful to anyone.

So what's in the Professional Edition of the Red Book that is not in the standard edition? If I were a dealer, I'd want to know A) what do I have to look in the smaller book to find, and B) why the dickens that information is not in the Professional Edition? Publishers who intentionally and unnecessarily create a requirement to buy two books when one ought to be adequate do NOT endear themselves to me.

Here's another example - Krause Publications seems to be marketing only 2/3 of the paper money volumes in their combined CD set - the Specialized Issues volume is missing. They weasel-worded it as "all types of paper money, issued by every country, since 1368." Technically that's almost correct, because the notes in the Specialized Issues edition are LARGELY (not completely) bank and regional issues, not national issues, but it's still a tremendous hole in the catalog if one is a paper collector - over 1,150 pages' worth.